Kansas Parks
Phone: Ranch Information Station 620-273-8494 <br> Headquarters - Admin 620-273-6034 <br> Park Superintendent 620-273-6034 <br>
On November 12, 1996, legislation was passed creating Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve in the Flint Hills region of Kansas. A new superintendent was assigned to the site in February 1997, and planning activities for the preserve are now underway.
The preserve protects a nationally significant example of the once vast tallgrass ecosystem. Of the 400,000 square miles of tallgrass prairie that once covered the North American Continent, less than 4 percent remains, primarily in the Flint Hills.
Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve is a new kind of national park. The preserve is 10,894 acres, but most of that land will remain under the ownership of the National Park Trust, which purchased the land in 1994. The National Park Service may own up to 180 acres, yet the legislation calls for the entire acreage to be managed cooperatively by the National Park Service and the National Park Trust.
On September 20, 2002, approximately 32 acres were donated to the National Park Service from the National Park Trust. This area includes the 1881 historic ranch house, limestone barn and outbuildings, and one-room schoolhouse.
This is a new park under development with visitor opportunities being expanded.
Directions
Car - Traveling from the east:
Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve is located 2 miles north of Strong City, KS on Highway 177. Travel on U.S. Highway 50 west from Emporia, KS, passing through Strong City, KS. Highway 50 (east/west) intersects with Highway 177 (north/south) approximately 1 mile west of Strong City, KS. Travel north on Highway 177 for 2 miles. Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve is on the west side of Highway 177.
Traveling from the north:
Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve is located 17 miles south of Council Grove, KS. Travel Highway 177 south from Council Grove, KS for 17 miles. The preserve is on the west side of the highway.
More info at http://www.nps.gov/tapr
Phone: Visitor Information 620-223-0310
Promises made and broken! A town attacked at dawn! Thousands made homeless by war! Soldiers fighting settlers! Each of these stories is a link in the chain of events that encircled Fort Scott from 1842-73. All of the site?s 20 historic structures, its parade ground, and its five acres of restored tallgrass prairie bear witness to this era when the United States was forged from a young divided republic into a united and powerful transcontinental nation.
It is the mission of the National Park Service at Fort Scott National Historic Site to preserve, protect and interpret nationally significant historic resources related to the opening of the West, the Permanent Indian Frontier, the Mexican-American War, Bleeding Kansas, the Civil War and the expansion of railroads.
Directions
Plane - The town of Fort Scott has a small airport. A larger airport is located in Joplin-60 miles away. The nearest international airport is in Kansas City-90 miles away.
Car - Fort Scott National Historic Site is located in downtown Fort Scott, Kansas. U.S. Highways 69 and 54 intersect here. Fort Scott is about 90 miles south of Kansas City and 60 miles northwest of Joplin, Missouri. It is 4 miles from the Kansas-Missouri border.
Please note that due to construction on Highway 69, the southbound exit that visitors normally use to access the historic site is closed.
Visitors travelling south on Highway 69 will need to exit at 3rd Street, the first traffic light from the north. At the light, turn right and follow 3rd Street for two blocks to Scott Avenue and then make another right. Proceed north for three blocks to Wall. Directly across Wall is the entrance to Fort Scott National Historic Site.
Public Transportation - The town of Fort Scott is served by Jefferson Bus Lines.
More info at http://www.nps.gov/fosc
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